Curing Isolation
by halfcurehalfdisease
Summary: An isolated Red begins to fall for a girl who repeatedly challenges him for his status as Kanto Champion. However, he begins to find that romantic love is not a cure-all. One-shot. Rated T for some language.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. No one should own Pokemon. Capitalism is evil. Stay communist, my friends.**

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><p>Her hips swayed as she walked across the snowy peak, across this frigid chasm of loneliness and isolation to where he sat, deep in thought. As she approached, this strange girl with a jacket buttoned over shorts and thigh highs, she drew a Pokeball from her jacket and approached him.<p>

She opened her mouth, and the Kanto Champion Red heard a human voice for the first time in what felt like a thousand years. "You! You're Champion Red! We're going to battle, and I'm going to win!" Her voice was almost lost in the snow, but years of isolation sharpened it, made it keen, made Red want to open his mouth and shout back that she was an idiot for challenging him in the place he knew better than anyone else.

Though she had seemed cocksure at first, he wiped the smile off her face and half of her team off the map—an Umbreon, a Bellossom, and a Gengar—with his Pikachu alone. Her Typhlosion proved to be a passionate, difficult female who in turn burned through Pikachu, Charizard, and Lapras. However, all it took was his Blastoise to take her down, and from there, the girl's Quagsire and Xatu lost easily.

Upon her loss, the girl stood there, quiet and solemn as Red in the snow. However, her wind-chapped face split into an amazed grin. "Wow! I've never lost like that before!" she called to him, approaching him from where he sat on a snowy boulder. "You didn't even have to give your Pokémon verbal cues! You're amazing."

He simply nodded. Her grin shrank a little, but she continued on, nonetheless; "I'm Lyra. I'm the Johto champion now. I want to be the Kanto Champion, too, so I'll be coming back soon." Throwing the hood of her jacket over her head, she charged back into the cave mouth nearby.

Red didn't know what to make of her, but the interruption had been appreciated.

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><p>That was how this all started. Her visits increased in frequency over the passing months, and each time she lost to him, but each loss was more graceful than the one before, and each time she stayed longer. She would bring him some food, remarking on how thin he looked. Sometimes, she brought him supplies for his Pokémon; Pikachu quickly became fond of her, whereas his Trainer was taking some time to warm up to such a persistent girl.<p>

He didn't know if she came up solely to battle him, or if it was because she seemed truly concerned about his loneliness on the mountaintop. She brought it up regularly, asking why he was up here. Of course, Red never answered. He hadn't spoken in so long; why would he break his silence for a girl who solely dogged him because she was hoping to conquer the Kanto Champion?

At first, Red only lost half of his Pokémon during their battles. Then, slowly, it became four. Five. Six. He lost to her, and with it he lost his status as the Kanto Champion.

Lyra's excited grin, however, made the loss feel less...well…like a loss. "I won!" she cried. Darting over to Red, she threw himself at him, hugging him tightly. "Thank you for letting me battle you like this!"

For the first time since she arrived on the mountain top, Red opened his mouth to speak. "You're welcome," he croaked.

She let go of him and stared up at his face with wonder. "You talked!"

He nodded. The effort had hurt him, but it was worth the warmth that suddenly flooded her features. Whether or not she had been coming up just to battle him, she had started making life quite interesting.

Lyra gestured down the mountainside. "Hey. Red. You should come down with me for a while."

Red shook his head at her, and she frowned. "Why not?"

"It's not safe," he said.

Lyra peered at him. "How so?"

"People," he breathed.

With a shrug, she started walking away. "All right. I'm bringing you some food sometime soon, though!" she shouted at him. "Warm food at that! You look absolutely frozen!"

It became apparent that she hadn't been using him for battles, because, true to her word, she brought up a small crock pot filled with cheesy potatoes and a large thermos filled with piping hot tea. Pikachu crawled into her jacket and snuggled against her while she poured him a cup of the steaming liquid, and she giggled. "He's really taken to me," she remarked as she handed it up to Red on his boulder.

"He takes to everyone," Red replied, but it was true. He almost seemed fonder of Lyra than he was of his own Trainer. Taking a bite of the potatoes, Red almost sighed in contentment. They burned gooey and smooth on his tongue, the first warm thing he had put in his mouth in a long time.

Lyra scratched Pikachu's ears and allowed the Electric Mouse Pokémon a bite of her potatoes. "Seems like he might need to come down off the mountain and socialize for a while," she said lightly. "If you don't want to go, I can bring him out to my hometown for a while to play with my neighbors' kids," she added hastily when Red gave her a dark look at the mention of leaving. Pikachu, on the other hand, glowed at the idea and headbutted Lyra, instantly crying at her with sparkling eyes.

Red sighed loudly. "No."

"Chuuuu," Pikachu complained, glowering at his Trainer.

"Why not?" Lyra asked. "Maybe you like it up here, but he seems pretty attuned to the idea of hanging around down where it's warm. Do you even know what season it is?"

"Just stop. I'll go with you," Red droned. Maybe she would leave him alone if he just stepped down off the mountain for a few hours. He figured the girl might shut up if he just humored her.

Now her eyes lit up. "Really? Oh my goodness, I didn't expect that. We have to go somewhere cool now, like Goldenrod City or Saffron City or—"

He raised a hand to silence her. "Just a small town. Please."

Lyra hesitated at his response, but then she nodded. Pikachu was delighted, butting Lyra under her chin and exclaiming, "Chu! Pika!"

When they finished their food, each Trainer called out their respective Flying types and took off for Newbark Town, Lyra's home.

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><p>Red couldn't believe how often he'd been off the mountain since he'd humored Lyra that one day and how normal it began to feel. At least once a week he slept in a <em>bed <em>now, instead of huddled in a cave in a pile of his Pokémon. Oftentimes, it was at Lyra's house, in their spare room or on their couch, because sometimes Lyra had other company as well.

She had a rival, much as Red had a rival. He was a rather striking boy with long, dark red hair and eyes to match, oftentimes dressed in dark colors. Much like Red had been taken in by Lyra, he seemed to be reluctantly in her house every few times that the former Champion was there. "Lyra, you have so many friends," her mother would comment whenever both of them were in the small house. With her daughter's newfound independence and monetary successes, Chiyo Soul would often leave at the appearance of the boys to go out with friends for dinner or visit with friends in town, leaving the three alone.

Red wasn't terribly fond of Silver. His relationship with his Pokémon seemed rather formal and stiff, although Lyra had remarked that it was better than it used to be with some pride in her voice. The younger boy's voice was low and serious, but there was something snide in the tone if he was talking to anyone but Lyra. "How many more people are you going to have live here? The whole population of Olivine City?" Silver asked her one time at dinner.

"Well neither of you really have houses, so someone has to make sure you're getting fed three square meals a day at least once a week," Lyra retorted with a roll of her eyes, making Silver snicker.

Red hated the way Silver looked at her. He hated that he hung onto her words and then responded to her sarcastically. If that jerk liked her so much, why couldn't he respond wholeheartedly to her?

What a tool.

His eyes widened a bit at the thought. Did he like Lyra?

"Red, are you all right?" Lyra asked. He hadn't touched his lasagna yet.

With a nod, he began picking at his food again. "Yeah. Just thinking." Lyra, who had been particularly oblivious thus far, simply shrugged and continued eating.

Silver glanced at him, understanding a lie when he saw one (perhaps he was a liar himself), and smirked a little.

Red hated him, and he also began to hate himself for knowing full well that he was a full-blooded hypocrite.

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><p>About a week later, Silver left Lyra's house right after dinner, citing with a roll of his eyes that his father had called him for the first time in a few years. "Tell him I said his suit is tacky!" Lyra called out the door. Red was puzzled; what kind of father did Silver have that Lyra would comment on a tacky suit? She closed it behind him and sighed, sagging against the door. "Man, you guys are kind of exhausting. Like, I like you both very much, but cooking for myself and two boys in their late teens to early twenties is just tiring."<p>

Red studied her. Pikachu was at her feet, chatting with the Bellossom that seemed to be her version of Pikachu. Bellossom noticed Red's stare, and potentially something in the Trainer's posture, and she dragged Pikachu away while slowly nodding to Red. His gaze shifted back to Lyra. She looked up to his russet eyes and cocked her head. "What? Do I have broccoli in my teeth or something?" she asked, and the concern that contorted her features was just so damned cute.

It was time to stop sounding like a hypocrite. He moved toward her and braced his arms against the door on either side of her shoulders, watching her closely. "Red?" she questioned, sounding more irritated than anything. "What are you doing?"

It was do or die time. He leaned in toward her, bending to match her short stature, and kissed her softly. In her surprise, her hands hung in the air, not clutching at him, the door, or anything. Her lips were chapped but so soft. Red pressed harder at her, and her hands moved to his shoulders.

When he separated from her, she looked at him slyly. "So. That's what you've been thinking about," she said, crossing his arms.

He shrugged, but Lyra laughed. "Well, what are you doing? Do it again." Surprised by how well-received his kiss was, he dragged her to him and kissed her again, and she laughed against his lips, wrapping her arms around him and stretching up on her toes to meet it.

His heart felt like summer at her touch.

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><p>Things changed after these kisses. When Red came down to visit, Silver was rarely there. According to Lyra, it was because he had some sort of family trouble, but Red wondered if it was because his presence was awkward in the presence of their burgeoning relationship. Some nights, they went out to dinner—in nice clothes, no less!—or took walks in the late spring haze. Lyra seemed content to have someone to love, holding his hand, kissing his cheek, ruffling his hair.<p>

Red, on the other hand, was glad to have made his feelings known, but at times he felt…uncomfortable. Giving affection and expressing his emotions had always been difficult, made more difficult with his ordeals with Team Rocket. He kissed her back, held her hand in return, and flipped the gravity-defying ends of her hair whenever she ruffled his, but initiating acts of romantic affection proved to be difficult.

Lyra didn't seem to mind, and so he didn't correct it. If she didn't care that he didn't start things, he shouldn't change up what he was already doing, right?

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><p>It was a balmy afternoon and the first day of summer on the calendar. The weather had been summery since May, but it was only today that the season officially was known as summer. Red showed up at Lyra's house. Pikachu charged up to the door and shouted at it, hopping up and down to press the doorbell excitedly. The door opened, and it was her mother standing there.<p>

"Oh, hello Red!" she greeted. Though neither Red nor Lyra had explicitly told Chiyo of their relationship, she was quite aware of their relationship. "Are you looking for Lyra?"

He nodded. She sighed. "I'm sorry. She left. There's an emergency with Silver, and I think it isn't very good. She left here looking pretty sick to her stomach."

"Where is she?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. You're welcome to wait here until she comes back," she said gently, gesturing in. "She made a quiche last night if you want some."

Having nothing to do, aside from return to the frigid peak of Mt. Silver, he entered the house and ate a few leftovers. Lyra's Bellossom was at home…in fact, so were all of her Pokémon except her Typhlosion. Their Pokeballs sat on the kitchen table, and they worriedly paced around the house. For a few hours he sat on the couch, looking through photo albums, listening to Chiyo tell stories about her daughter and their family, and in general feeling strange.

He knew Silver and Lyra were good friends, but for her to run out of there on moment's notice and not even cancel on Red…it seemed fishy.

The sun had started to set when Lyra appeared, staggering through the door in apparent exhaustion. She was dressed hastily in a red sweater, ripped jeans, and her customary white cap. She seemed mussed; Red's suspicions increased. "Hi guys," she greeted, smiling tiredly, "Sorry about that."

Her Pokémon flocked her, and it would be a few minutes before Red could get to her. He approached her and crossed his arms. "Where were you?" he asked.

"Silver had a bad family emergency," she replied. It took her a moment, but she narrowed her eyes at Red's tone. "What do you think I was doing?"

"I don't know," Red responded, bristling. He looked her up and down, noticing her messy clothes, and she glowered at him.

"My best friend and rival is in a bad way. I'm tired. I hoped I could come home to some support, but I see you're not going to offer that. Instead you're going to look at me like I'm a whore or something. Just so we're clear, we're an item. Not Silver and me," she said, her voice calm but icy. Releasing her Typhlosion, she motioned for her Pokémon to follow her. "Call me later or something. Not going to put up with this right now."

Her Pokémon gave him similarly dirty looks. Red hung his head and sighed deeply, scratching at his head awkwardly. Why had he reacted like that so quickly? Lyra had so many male friends aside from Silver; she exhibited the behaviors of a good friend to everyone. Was it because Silver seemed to worship her that he was suspicious of their interactions?

As he left with Pikachu, Chiyo gave him a pointed look, as if to say that he should watch his tone with her daughter next time. He already felt aware of that. Far too aware.

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><p>Red wouldn't see Lyra again for two weeks. They texted a little here and there, and she sent him and his Pokémon a few basic supplies with her Xatu, but otherwise there was no face to face contact. He didn't hear her voice.<p>

Mt. Silver was isolated, but he sure as hell had never felt more lonely up there.

When Lyra finally called him, he answered his Pokegear hastily. "Hello?" he answered, breathless.

"Hey. Let's meet up at the diner you like in Pewter City in like an hour," Lyra said on the other end, sounding like her usual self. Relief flooded through him. "It's been too long."

"I agree," he said. With little else said, they hung up, and Red hurried to prepare himself to see Lyra.

He arrived at the diner forty-five minutes later and Lyra was already there, ordering something from the waitress. She looked up to Red and gave a smile. Something about it seemed off; Red's stomach sunk at the sight of it. "Hey. I haven't eaten since breakfast this morning, so I'm sorry I ordered already," she said as the waitress sauntered away.

"It's fine," Red said, dropping into to the booth across from her.

Lyra looked at him expectantly. Confused, he offered her his best attempt at a smile. Her own expression faded a little—that wasn't what she had wanted, he supposed—and she took a deep breath. "So, how are you feeling?" she asked, her tone seeming forcibly light.

"Warm," he responded. "Two weeks is now a long time to be cold."

"Fancy that," Lyra remarked. The waitress returned with a root beer for Lyra. Red wasn't hungry, but he asked for a glass of water and the first thing he saw on the menu. As she walked away, she peered at Red curiously. "Where's Pikachu?"

"I left my Pokémon at home. Charizard flew me here and now he's flying around," he responded. In truth, he didn't want Lyra to pay more attention to his Pokémon than him. "Will you ever explain what happened to Silver?"

"I didn't necessarily want to tell you this, but…his father was the head of Team Rocket. Giovanni. He was captured and put in jail recently for his crimes, and in his confessions he admitted to hiring a hitman to off his wife. Silver's mother."

Red's eyes widened. "You're friends with Giovanni's _son_?"

She gave him a look of challenge. "Is that such an issue?" When he didn't respond, she gently explained, "It doesn't matter. He hates Team Rocket. He was upset that you took down Team Rocket—and then I did later—and he didn't get to do much with that. Now, we're friends. He was really messed up about that two weeks ago, so I went to comfort him."

"Comfort," Red repeated.

He shouldn't have said that. He shouldn't have opened his mouth. Lyra stood up and glared at him. "Okay, stop. Just stop. What's the matter with you? You never kiss me, you get jealous of Silver, and you're just…you're just detached! Why the hell did you kiss me that night?" she hissed. The interaction turned heads, but Lyra didn't seem particularly mortified as she leaned in toward him. "There has been _nothing _between Silver and me. I hate that you pick on him like that. Ethan and I slept in the same bed until we were sixteen years old during sleepovers. I answer calls from Juggler Irwin at least once a week around you, and you don't care. Why do you have to pick on Silver?" Grabbing her purse, she began to exit the booth. "Bye."

"You never even told me what you want," Red breathed, rubbing at his face.

"Every fricken girl in the universe wants her boyfriend to initiate affection!" she snapped. Now the whole restaurant had paused, looking at her. "We're done, Silver. We've barely been together that long, and you're already jealous. It's just going to get worse."

"I think love you," Red muttered.

"That's not enough," Lyra snapped. Without waiting for his response, she left.

Red sat there. His eyes were hot and sodden, but the tears just wouldn't come. He stood up, soundless, and left the restaurant. It was time to go back to Mt. Silver, and not return from its cold embrace for a while.

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><p>He knew that he did quite a lot wrong, in retrospect. Red had known plenty of women in his life, ranging from family to friends to Gym Leaders. When word of his breakup—and how it had gone down—had spread, he received letters. Some of them were scolding, telling him he had really missed out and that it was indeed universal among women, whatever Lyra had wanted from him. Others were sympathetic, telling him that there were others and it would work out next time.<p>

Pikachu missed Lyra dearly, though a month had passed. A few letters from Lyra's neighbor Ethan reached him, asking if he could take Pikachu to see Lyra briefly. Red ignored those; if she didn't want him, she couldn't see his Pokémon, either.

He knew he had spent an exorbitant amount of time sulking over his failures when his rival Blue showed up, bundled in a very bulky jacket and mittens. The Gym Leader hated the cold, and so it was rare that he appeared on the mountain. "Yo, Red," he called, pacing up to him, "what are you still doing up here? You were actually up and around for a while before."

Red said nothing, and Blue sighed. Pikachu, grateful for some chatty company, approached Red and clambered up his front to nuzzle his face. Blue humored the Pokémon for a minute before responding, "I know you've probably been getting a lot of flack for not knowing some pretty basic stuff when it comes to ladies. The female Gym leaders get together and talk about it a lot. The thing is, you learned from this, right? You learned you need to open up more next time and not be so suspicious. I know Lyra pretty well, and she's a very loyal person. She was loyal to you romantically, and your distrust hurt her badly."

"I know," Red retorted quietly.

"Then buck up," Blue said. "You can try again later if you want. It's been a month. You liked being down where it's not snowing 366 days out of 365."

Red simply nodded. The presence of his friend made him feel better, and it made him realize something. "Blue," he said, quite seriously. "I just need to be around people again. Not date. I jumped into a relationship after barely seeing people for two years. I don't know how that was supposed to work."

Blue peered at him. "Well, if that's what you think it is. I have no idea. I just like women a lot, you know?" This brought a smile to Red's face, and Blue nudged his friend. "C'mon. Your mom and Leaf miss you a lot. You should go home for a while, not isolate yourself up here."

Red nodded slowly. He called out his Charizard and tapped his side twice—a silent gesture that meant home. Blue looked to his friend and remarked, "By the way, you should probably let Pikachu visit Lyra, even if you never want to look at her again or anything."

Pikachu's eyes sparkled and he nodded. Red beckoned Pikachu over to him and promised, "Some other time. Right now we're going home."

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><p>It was amazing how quickly a year had passed and how much Red had come out of his shell. Returning home had done wonders for his mind. His mother and his neighbor, Leaf, had greeted him so enthusiastically. Respecting his wishes, they had a private dinner with his friends and family, and they simply spent the time catching up.<p>

"Still can't believe you dated a girl who harassed you on a mountain," Leaf had remarked, eyeing her friend with disbelief. "That's so unlike you."

"No wonder that didn't work," his mother had commented. Red simply laughed it off. Home felt so good.

As time went on, he found his voice less raspy, his eyes clearer in the mirror, and even found it in himself to pay for a professional haircut instead of taking scissors to his black mop. Red spoke more and let the children in town play with his Pokémon.

One summer morning, while looking after the neighbor's three children on the town green, he heard a familiar voice. "Hi, Red," said a cautious voice. Red looked up to see none other than Lyra standing there. In the year that had passed, she hadn't changed much in appearance. Her hair was shorter and hung loose around her shoulders, but she still wore her cap and still wore her customary red sweatshirt with shorts.

Red felt nothing. No sadness, anger, or even really any elation to see her. Nonetheless, he smiled. "Hey. What brings you here?"

"Professor Oak called me here. He's going to give me a Kanto starter," she replied, approaching him. With a smile, she said, "You're looking good. The sun's done you some wonders."

Red nodded. "Thanks."

"Lyra! Holy crap I couldn't get Crobat to land! Why'd you have to run off like that!?" Red peered around Lyra to see none other than Silver approaching. His hair was longer than ever, he noticed. He noticeably bristled at the sight of Red. "Wow. Haven't seen you in over a year," Silver remarked. Red wondered how much he knew about what had gone down between him and Lyra.

Lyra put a hand on Silver's arm and stroked it soothingly. The gesture told him that Silver and Lyra had likely advanced beyond a friendship in the past months. During this, the three kids playing with Red's Venusaur nearby gawked at Lyra, a visibly well-known Champion. "Hey. It's good to see you. You look happy now," she said with a smile. Taking Silver by the hand, confirming Red's suspicions, she headed into town.

"Wait!" Red called. When she paused and turned around, he called, "Stop by my house. It's behind the lab. Pikachu is napping in the front yard; he'd love to see you.'

"AHHH! PIKACHU!" She bellowed, her eyes bright, and she charged off, dragging a nonplussed Silver behind her. The kids laughed, and Red couldn't help but laugh.

He watched them for a while. They must have thought he wasn't, for Silver dug his heels in and reeled Lyra into a kiss. One of them kids ooh-ed loudly. They broke it off, and Lyra waved sheepishly at them before heading toward Red's house and Professor Oak's lab again. Red didn't feel jealous of their relationship and their interactions—he wasn't capable of that. Once, on the fly, he'd kissed her, but he was still far too repressed to make a girl like her happy.

Turning back to the kids, he knew that he didn't mind. There was time to develop and grow. Lyra would have her happy ending soon; his would just arrive a little later and either with someone else or on his own.

It was good to be around others again.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Hello, hello, and welcome to my first one-shot. I don't write short works very well! I still have no idea I only have short stories published, tbh. I suck at writing them. Anyway, this file in my computer is titled "lol red u lose" because I was going to make this stupid and angsty and have Silver literally steal Lyra from Red. But then I couldn't do it. I just couldn't do it. I like Red too much to do that to him. Morty, on the other hand...I could screw him over in a heartbeat. _

_Anyway, on a different note, I know I've neglected _A Sign of The Times _for quite a while. I'm hoping to update that by the end of the week. September was quite wild! Marching and freshman mothering and all sorts of fun stuff! I will hopefully start updating a little more frequently again._

_Until I update one of my longer works, remember to take care of yourself!_

_Mars_


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